The FDA has approved use of Exablate Neuro (Insightec) for unilateral thalamotomy to treat medication-refractory essential tremor in patients ≥22 years old. Exablate Neuro uses magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) to create lesions in the ventral intermediate nucleus of the thalamus. MRgFUS is also approved in the US for treatment of uterine fibroids and for pain palliation of bone metastases.

Acamprosate calcium (Campral - Forest) is now being marketed for oral use to maintain abstinence from alcohol. It has been used in France and other countries since 1989.

Rufinamide (Banzel - Eisai), a triazole derivative structurally unrelated to other marketed antiepileptic drugs (AEDs), has been approved by the FDA for treatment of seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS) in patients ≥4 years old.

The FDA has approved cannabidiol oral solution (Epidiolex – Greenwich Biosciences) for treatment of seizures associated with Dravet syndrome or Lennox-Gastaut syndrome in patients ≥2 years old. Cannabidiol (CBD) is a cannabinoid constituent of the marijuana plant (Cannabis sativa). It is the first natural marijuana product to be approved by the FDA for any indication and the first drug to be approved in the US for treatment of Dravet syndrome. Stiripentol (Diacomit), which is not a marijuana product, was also recently approved by the FDA for treatment of Dravet syndrome in...

The FDA has approved stiripentol (Diacomit – Biocodex) for treatment of seizures in patients ≥2 years old with Dravet syndrome who are also taking clobazam (Onfi). Stiripentol, which has been available in Europe, Canada, and Japan for many years, is the second drug to be approved in the US for this indication; cannabidiol oral solution (Epidiolex), a purified marijuana product, was the first.

Perampanel (per am’ pa nel; Fycompa – Eisai), a first-in-class noncompetitive AMPA receptor antagonist, has been approved by the FDA for adjunctive treatment of partial-onset seizures in patients ≥12 years old. New drugs for epilepsy are often initially approved by the FDA as adjunctive treatment for partial seizures.

The FDA has approved two subcutaneously injected calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) antagonists, fremanezumab-vfrm (Ajovy – Teva) and galcanezumab-gnlm (Emgality – Lilly), for migraine prevention in adults. Fremanezumab and galcanezumab are the second and third subcutaneously injected monoclonal antibodies that target the CGRP pathway to be approved by the FDA for this indication; erenumab-aooe (Aimovig), which targets the CGRP receptor, was the first.

The FDA has approved erenumab-aooe (Aimovig – Amgen/Novartis), a once-monthly, subcutaneously-injected, monoclonal antibody against the calcitonin gene-related peptide receptor, for preventive treatment of migraine in adults. It is the first drug in its class to be approved by the FDA.

The FDA has approved fenfluramine oral solution (Fintepla – Zogenix) for treatment of seizures in patients ≥2 years old with Dravet syndrome. It is the third drug to be approved for this indication. Stiripentol (Diacomit) and cannabidiol (Epidiolex), a purified product derived from marijuana, were approved earlier.

The FDA has approved lacosamide (Vimpat - UCB Pharma) for oral or intravenous (IV) use as add-on therapy in adults with partial-onset seizures.